Couples investing

[ghotib]

How do you and your other half split responsibility and credit for your investments? Some people have mentioned this in other threads, but I thought it would be interesting to see how many differences there are.

Our system is that we each handle our own portfolios, but we each have the right to veto the other's investment purchases. In practice that just means we talk things over a lot, which is good because we think very differently.

Ghoti

 

[mit]

I trade mechanically so there is no discussion about individual stocks but I find it is important to talk about what I am doing, how much I make each month talk about particularly bad or good days and what risks you are taking.

I think for a leveraged trader it is important because the easiest person to fool is yourself and I need that sanity check.

MIT

 

[tech/a]

Whats hers is hers and whats mine is hers---thats how it works isnt it?

 

[quinny]

Hahaha agree with tech/a's comments. My wife says that to me all the time.

My wife has an account, I have an account and we have a joint account. She has no interest in shares and leaves it all to me. I use the joint account and my own account. I tend to prefer the joint account as I can split cap gains (in the past she wouldn't pay her part of the CGT since she had no income) and if there is a cap loss, that means I can claim it.

Haven't used this to full effect yet anyway.

 

[Buster]

Hmmm.. I tell her what I made, she tells me what she spent..

Cheers,
Buster

 

[eddievanhalen]

Hmmm.. I tell her what I made, she tells me what she spent..

Cheers,
Buster

Sounds familiar

 

[dallee]

When both parties earn the same income and will do for the foreseeable future, can anyone think of a reason for not buying shares in joint names? The only one I can think of is that individual ownership might make it easier to transfer shares into our superannuation funds on retirement to take advantage of the hopefully still tax-free environment by then.

dallee

 

[mit]

I split the accounts as I wanted to build my wifes trading account first as she doesn't work. However, we are now 50-50 and it is annoying when you have a half a position of free equity in each account.

MIT

 

[Julia]

I will never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever again combine my finances with anyone else.
You may feel that you have the perfect relationship and trust is absolute, but the most unforeseen stuff can happen.
You can still have that hunky dory relationship while keeping your own finances separate.

Julia

 

[burglar]

You may feel that you have the perfect relationship and trust is absolute, but the most unforeseen stuff can happen.

Julia

And I like how you have a guard dog to guard against most unforeseen stuff. lol

 

[pixel]

When both parties earn the same income and will do for the foreseeable future, can anyone think of a reason for not buying shares in joint names? The only one I can think of is that individual ownership might make it easier to transfer shares into our superannuation funds on retirement to take advantage of the hopefully still tax-free environment by then.

dallee

But there's always the chance that income levels change - sometimes very quickly when you least expect it. That's why we have set up a joint discretionary Family Trading Trust. Joint Trustees, and at the end of each Financial Year, any profits and franking credits are distributed "with discretion".
Ask your Accountant for advice, if you can't work it out on your own.

PS: Same with the Superfund. If you're married for a number of years (in my case: over 30 years), it doesn't really matter, whose name is written as "member" of the Superfund. In case of death, the non-member gets the total balance paid out in full, tax-free. If the non-member dies first, ownership remains with the surviving member. And in case of divorce, each gets half anyway. (Mine is an SMSF, already in draw-down phase, but still actively managed for growth.)

PPS: btw, who told you Superfunds are tax-free? Profits are taxed (inside the Fund) at 15% flat. Only distributions, even lump sumps, can be taken out without attracting personal income tax. As long as you're above preservation age, that is.

 

[Bill M]

My wife leaves all the financial decisions up to me, she is the type of person who works and just puts the money in the bank. I make all the share purchase decisions with little input from her. However on occasions she notices a particular share going up regularly on the channel 7 news she says they look pretty good.

I balance our accounts solely on tax requirements. I try to make it so we both roughly earn the same amount of income so we taxed at lower rates and both receive tax rebates. Paying unnecessary tax is really just a waste of money. It is far better for her and I to earn say 30K each a year than for me to earn 60K and her nothing. I strive to pay as little tax as possible legally.

Big ticket items like property will always be in both names but shares are always in one name only, easier at tax time. I do a stock take on our financial position once a week and always inform her of where we are and where we hope to be going, our system seems to work.

 

[nulla nulla]

We operate two CHESS accounts:

1. A Self Managed Super Fund where the ratio of funds on hand was determined by the rolled-over contributions from the super funds of our respective previous employers; and

2. A Joint CHESS account where the contributions were joint and the decision making is joint (sometimes very robust discussion).

In the SMSF we each control seperate investments and keep a very accurate record of the increase/decrease in net worth of the portfolio value. Being self employed, wages are generally equal and so are contributions to superannuation. The differences in the ratio of individualy controlled funds in the SMSF only changes in line with the apportioning of dividends & profits/losses earned by the indiviually managed shares and on buy/sells of the individually managed shares.

In the joint CHESS account, our approach to shares is not always the same but we have learnt to respect each others assessments and decisions. While our discussions were initially very robust at times, we eventually mutually agreed to dispense with the "blame/credit" game for not so good decisions / good decission as we both have some good and some not so good.

Records are updated daily, holdings are reviewed daily. The maintaining of good records has a threefold benefit:

1. We know where our portfolio is on any given day and can make & take decisions to buy or sell shares at short notice to protect or enhance the total portfolio value;
2. Good records makes for effective cash management and helps hone the risk return aspects of any buy/sell/hold decisions; and
2. Good records help reduce the time the accountants take to prepare tax returns and audit the SMSF, keeping accounting fees down.

Since the gfc our approach has changed from passive investment to proactive investment, locking in profits as we go and reinvesting profits and/or dividends. It seems to work.

 

[SM Junkie]

I'm the opposite of Bill M... husband leaves all investment and financial matters to me. It's my interest and he's happy just to go to work and not worry about money matters. But we do talk about what I'm doing and where we are heading so it's really not in isolation.

What we have done differently however is not put anything in our own names. Everything is done through different Trust Accounts. We have even gone to the extent of doing a post nup agreement, so should the worst happen both parties will know the playing field.

We have a very open way of dealing with our finances and we both feel protected as much as possible.